Gripper device for printing-presses.



B. W.. CONTESSA. GRIPPER DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILEDJULY 20. 1915.

1 1 76,433 Patented Mar. 2l, 1916.v

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I Q%\` I II" f I @g u n 5 B w 1; W .LI Q *Il To a'ZZwhom it may concern:

Y aai bei narran srnrns lrnrnia'r ormoni* :BENIAMINO w. colar-essa, orNew YORK, N. Y.

13e itv vknown that I, BENIAMINO W. Colv- TEs'sA, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of'New York, borough of Brooklyn, county`of Kings, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and `usefulImprorements in Gripper Devices for Printing-Presses, of which thefollowing is 'a full. clear, andexact specification.

,This invention. relates to a classof` d evicesy adapted to be 'usedespecially with jobv printing presses. n Y l Myi rention lhas for vitsobject primarily to 'provide aform of gripper device designed wgbeemployee-,in @nimeer ,aan ,lobi printing .presses whereby paper and the'like when 'fed' on the platen 'thereof 4fer being printed will be'smoothly and evenly held to receive the 'impression of the 'type'`inatteii' in tlie press as 'well as serving to overcome the tendencyofthe paper to 'adhere to the type following the impression, and whichcontemplates the employment of gripper members of different forms to beinterchangeably used so that paper of Various sizes 'may be convenientlyand properlyT printed. This is accomplishednmainly by providing asupport, or bar adjacent to the `platen of the press, and .onthesupporting bar may be one, or `a number of carrier members, or platesarranged between the platen and the bed of fthe press so as to beadjusted -toward and from each other. In order to 'permit paper to beproperly held when fed on the platen for being printed, toea'cli of the`carrier `plates may be interchangeably applied one of aplllrality ofpairs of gripper members, or arms each pair being of ditiferentlengthssothat grippers of -A kpractical vembodiment of the inventionVrepresented irithe accompanying drawi-` -ing' forming apart of thisvspecification 1n like sizes, orgrippers of different lsizes may,

esirenn nevica ynon rmnfrinefrnnssns. ;v

Specification of Letters Patent. v Pjgen'ted luajr. 21, 1.916Appiiationmea any 2o, 1915. serial n411597... i

which similarA characters of kreference indi-11 cate correspondingpartsmin all the views, the. said invention being more fully describedherein-after, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of thedescription.

In vthe drawing, Figure l is a fragmentary view showing one side of theplaten and bed of a ujob printing `press with one forrnof gripper deviceembodying invention appliedthere'to. Fig. 2 isa front view of theVplaten ofthe press showing the manner of 'using the device conjunctiontherewith. A Fig. is `an enlarged elevation of one of the carrier platesused inthe de- "106e Fie-l, 4 .iS a 'D View v'Of the Gefrier plete-1Fier. 15. fiS Y an enlarged. ,.el'evdfieli, partly section, Af 'onejofthe gripper .m'em bers of the device. Fig. 6 is' an enlarged elevation,partly in section, of a lsin-iilar gripper Inernberused in the device.Fig. 7 is an enlarged section taken on 'theline VII-VII of Fig. '6. Fig.8 is an enlarged section taken on the AlineV VHF-VIII of Fig. 5. Fig. 9:is an enlarged elevation of another Aform of gripper member. Fig. l isan enlarged elevation of a similarv gripper member shown in Fig. 9. Fig.11 is an enlarged elevation of still another form of grippermember. Fig.12 is an enlarged elevation of a like gripper :member shown inFig. 11and Fig. 13 is a side View of one of the removable lingersused inconjunction with the gripper members shown in Figs. and 6.

`,The gripper device has a support, or bar I0 adapted to be pivoted, asat' 1'1, or`oth`. erwise applied to the` lower part o't the' platenll?.of the ordinary,.0r` preferred type of job printing presses, the platenbeing air-j ranged so as to be moved toward and from the bed I3 o'f thepress in the manner common to the operation of this .class of printstoing machines when `paper and the like is fed y imity to oneV of itsv.ends an opening 19-` adapt'e'dto be registered "ivitli "one of the"slots in the supporting bar 10. WYlien the carrier plates 17 and 18 arearranged on the supporting bar 10 so that the openings 19 are inregister with the slots of the bar, set screws, as 20 and 21, are passedtherethrough for permitting the carrier plates to be adjusted toward andfrom each otheron the supporting bar longitudinally of the platen.

The opposite end of each 'oftlie'cari'ier cess 23 of each of the carrierplates 17 and 18 are adapted to removably receive vone of zij-number ofpairs of interchangeable gripper members, or arms, as 27, 2S and 29.

A`Each pair of the gripper arms 27, 2S, 29 have bcdyportions 30 and 30aof different lengths from the body portions of-tlie other pairs of arms`to permit Adifferent gripper arms to be employed as occasion mayrequire for properly holding paper ofvarious sizes when fed on theplaten of the press, Vand the body portion ofeach of the gripper arms issubstantially'rectangular as viewed transversely as well as being of aWidth so as to be freelydisposed in, or removed from the recess 23 ofone of' the carrier plates 17 and 18. The loiver end of the body por,-tion of each of the gripper arms 27, 28, 29 is reduced to provide aprojecting pin, or lug 31 adapted to be inserted in the socket 26 of thecarrier plate when the gripper arm is applied thereto, and in theside'edgesof each of the gripper arms adjacent to its projecting pin 31are grooves, as 32 and 33,

which are of shapes to receive the ribs 24 and 25 extending into therecess 23 ot' the carrier plate to which the gripper arm is applied.

As shown, the pair of` gripper arms 27 are considerablv longerthan thepairs vof;

gripper arms .28 and 29, and the ends of each of the gripper-arms 27opposite to its projecting pin 31 are reduced to provide an extendinglug34. Serving to alloi'v sheetsY of paper of larger sizes than the platenof the press to be evenly held during the print-` ingprocess, aremovable finger, as 35, may.

be applied to one, or all of the gripper arms 27 so as to increase theirlengths. There may be asn many of these fingers vas there aregripperarms, and each finger has on one of its ends a sleeve 35a adaptedto be dis-` posed cn the lug 34 of one of the gripper arms 27, and theother portion lof eacli of presslivhich is opposite to the-'supportingbar 10 Vwhen one, or Amore of the gripper In practice a single'pair ofgripper arms 27, 28, 29 may be used, or instead thereof one of eachpair, or anydesired combination of the arms may be employed, 1n whichinstance there must always be a corresponding num# Ybei' of theadjustable carrier plates ,pro-

vided on the supporting bar 10. When one of the gripper arms is appliedtoone ofthe'f` carrier plates the grooved end of the arms is linsertedin the recess 2301:' one of the carrier platesso that the pin 31 will bedisposed in the sccliet 26 of the carrier plate and the ribs 24 and 25will Vbe positionedV inA the grooves 32 and 33 ofthe gi'ipper'arm.

The gripper arm will then be heldY to the carrier plate againstaccidental displacementV as well as bengsusceptible of being inter!changed with onevofthe other'gripperarms when desired. All of thegripperarmsmay be removably applied similarly to the carrier plates,fand `by using the gripper arms in'` conjunction with carrier plates inalike manner paper and the like of'various sizes when..

fedl on the. platen Will vbe smoothly and evenly held to receivetheimpressions 'ofv the type matterin the press vafter the car-Y rierplates and the gripperarms` are properly adjusted on the supporting bai"10, the

set -screvvs120 and 2 1 serving Whenmanipu-z Y lated accordingly topermit thecarrier plates to be loosened and tightly held on the'supporting bar.

. In the foregoing description, I have einbodied the preferred form ofmy invention,

but I do not Wish to. be understood as lirn-l iting myself thereto, as Iam aware that` modifications maybe made therein Without claim as new anddesire to secure by Let-A ters Patent 1. In a gripper device forprinting presses,- a support adjacent to theplatenof the press,i.removable carriei" plates on the support,

means connecting each of the carrierv plates to the support so that theplates may' be.

adjusted toward and from each other, and each of the ca rrier plateshaving a recess and a communicating socket, a plurality of gripping armsof different lengths, eachformed so that one of its ends may belre-`inovably inserted in the recess of one of the plates, and each gripperarmhaving-a projecting pin for insertionjjin the socket` of the carrierplate whereby the gripper mayA be interchangeably connected tothecarrier plates, anda number of fingers each adapted. Y .130

to be 'detachablyapplied on one of a number of the gripper arms toincrease the length of said arms, for the purpose speci 2. In a gripperdevice for printing presses, a slotted support adjacent to the platen ofthe press, removable carrier plates on the support, each having anopening in register with the slot of the support, a set screw passingthrough the opening of each carrier plate and through the slot of thesupport so that the plates may be adjusted toward and from each other,and cach of the carrier plates having a recess and a communicatingsocket, a plurality of pairs of gripper arms, each pair of differentlengths, and each gripper arm being so formed that one of its ends maybe removably inserted in the recess and in the socket of one of theplates whereby the gripper arms may be interchangeably connected to thecarrier plates, and a number of curved lingers each adapted to bedetachably applied on one of a number oi' the gripper arms to increasethe lengths of said arms, for the purpose specified.

This specification signed and witnessed this nineteenth day of July A.D. 1915.

BENIAMINO W. CONTESSA. Witnesses: n

A. M. EGAN, Ro'r. B. ABBOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Ciimmissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

